From Inches to Feet...More Snow for Southeast Colorado

January 29-31, 2005

An upper level system tracked just south of the Colorado border over the
weekend, bringing moist southeasterly flow into the eastern
mountains and adjacent plains. The combination of moisture
and cold air brought heavy snowfall to western portions
of El Paso County southward to the Colorado New Mexico border.
Spotters in the Wet Mountains in the cities of Rye, Beulah,
San Isabel and Colorado City
had to double up on the rulers, as snow was measured in
feet. Several inches were reported on southward along the Interstate
25 corridor, including
Walsenburg and Trinidad, with Cuchara also coming in big with
49 inches.

As the storm moved slowly eastward, it brought several inches of snow to the plains along the southern Colorado border in Baca and Las Animas counties, bringing much needed moisture to the area.

The snow had a high liquid water content, producing a heavy wet snow. Ratios were about 10 to 1 across the plains, which means for every inch of water there is about 10 inches of snow. This makes hard work for snowplows and people shoveling driveways, as the weight of the snow is increased by its high water content.

If you have photos of the event that you would be willing to have published on the website, please send them to the email listed in the bottom left hand menu, with the subject "January Snowstorm". Please note that images on the NWS Pueblo website are considered public domain, for anyone to use.

(Above photos courtesy M. Fickes)

Some Additional Photos...

Colorado City

San Isabel

Crystal Park

Garden of the Gods

A few totals from the event:

City

County

Snow in Inches

Rye

Pueblo

38

Beulah

Pueblo

30

Cuchara

Huerfano

49

Lake San Isabel

Pueblo/Custer

5.5 Feet (est.)

Walsenburg

Huerfano

25

Colorado City

Pueblo

25

La Veta

Huerfano

23.5

West Wet Mtn.Valley

Custer

15 to 20

Canon City

Fremont

9

West Colorado Springs

El Paso

6-11

Monument

El Paso

10

28 S of Granada

Baca

6

Pikes Peak Highway

Teller

18 to 24

Florissant

Teller

8

A big thanks once again to all our spotters and their reports,
and a thanks to the public for their photos of the event!